Natural highs and lows

I hope that the festive period has provided everyone with the opportunity to share happy times and good food with family or friends. We all need some respite from the cares of the world to recharge our batteries, whatever our persuasion. Up here, in the erstwhile Hyperborea, whilst we still have a little daylight at this time of year, snuggling down for the evening can begin as early as half past three in the afternoon. This is ages before gin o'clock which, thankfully, doesn't dance to the solar cycle. Wildlife, on the other hand, does have to worry about making it through the long cold nights. Recent snowfall has encouraged a few Fieldfares into the garden, to compete with the local Blackbirds for apples. So far, they have only appeared around dawn, making photography difficult. The daylight, or lack thereof, has caused a few headaches for our fortnightly shore survey, with the need to juggle tide times, weather and the ability to see where we're walking. The latest batch...

As we reach the end of 2021, I am reflecting upon a year when the weather has been anything but normal. The previous Winter wasn’t particularly stormy, then Spring was cool and dry, Summer was hot (by our standards!), and Autumn actually lasted longer than 24 hours, with the added bonus of some welcome colour to it. As I write, we’ve already had several storms of this Winter and the early December snows appeared on time. That much, at least, is usual. The birds which visit the county to breed in Spring and Summer, and those which use Orkney as a pitstop on their journeys to Southern Europe and Africa, are now long gone. Our Winter visitors have arrived: Redwings and Fieldfares tseep -ing and chack -ing their way through the shorter days; Long-tailed Ducks and Little Auks adding a frisson of excitement to our coastal walks; and Whooper Swans, Pink-footed Geese and Barnacle Geese grazing in the fields. Around our shores, the Grey Seal pupping season is now on the wane for this year, th...

The past few weeks have seen several gales hammer through Orkney, bringing so much rain with them that it feels as though we might have imagined the drought of early Summer. At least we can now experience dawn at a reasonable time, this photo being taken a shade after 8am, whilst still clad in a dressing gown, balanced precariously on a folding chair, and holding a camera out of the top light of the dining room window. Image captured, dignity maintained, just. At this time of year, Little Auks appear in Orkney waters and elsewhere, blown in from the Atlantic and in need of a bit of shelter. We ventured to Scapa Bay to track down a couple of these diminutive birds which are only the size of a Starling. Through most of the bad weather, our bird feeder was quite busy with finches and the like but, during the last few days, the level of seed hasn't shifted one iota. At breakfast, on Saturday, we discovered why... This female Sparrowhawk must have moved into the area and quickly figured...